


Foundling

by AvatarToph



Category: Peter Pan & Related Fandoms, Peter Pan (1953)
Genre: Adventures, Boys Being Boys, Fluff, No pairings - Freeform, Peter is a Little Shit, Peter pan & captain hook - Freeform, Peter pan/captain hook friendship, captain hook becomes a lost boy, peter becomes a pirate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-12-15 00:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21024749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvatarToph/pseuds/AvatarToph
Summary: The lost boys leave Neverland to grow up. Peter, who is emotionally linked to the island, makes the pirates dissapear to force Hook to be alone like him. Now the two of them have to grapple with forgiving eachother of past wrongdoings to avoid being crushingly alone on the island. Peter and Hook become the lost boy pirates of Neverland, learning new things and going on adventures together!





	1. Chapter 1

Hook grew more miserable the further he got from his old docking place. He trudged against the whipping winds along the sand of the little island in a circle with no real purpose, for he had lost the last anchor to his sanity in this godforsaken land. His ship, crew, maps, trinkets, possessions… all gone. Vanished in a flash with none to remember them but the old captain, now without anything to be captain of.

His shoes filled with water, the wind blew his hair into his face, his hat had flown away a while ago, and he had no mental energy to care. He drifted; truly a lost man on the island of all lost things. 

It was when the stormy gales reached heights that even he could not ignore in this state that he noticed a figure perched on a rock. It was the boy, trembling and curled into himself, that seemed to be unaffected by the odd weather. Lightening cracked across the sky and illuminated the pair. It was dangerous out here. Dangerous for Hook and dangerous for that blasted idiot of a boy. He would not be felled by a little lightening and Hook wanted answers. 

"Boy! Get up!" He shouted above the wind. Peter looked up, miserable and uncaring that it was his enemy that was standing so close. He made no move to leave, though, and went back to crying into his knees. Hook bristled at not being listened to. "I am trying to save your sorry hide, you insolent fool! Now get up!" 

He heaved the boneless wretch across his back, scraping his hook against the boys leg in his haste. The man made his way across the beach as best he could, stumbling once or twice as his heavy boots sank into the flooded sand. Peter continued his wallowing against his neck, barely audible against the thunder and rain. 

They made it under the canopy of the trees and Hook was able to slow down and catch his breath. He set the boy down on the grass. "Fly home, boy." He dismissed. 

Peter just shook his head and sobbed louder, punctuated by a horrifically loud peal of thunder overhead. Hook jumped and became angry. "Why not?! We are being tormented by Poseidon himself! Get out of the rain!" 

"I can't fly!" He wailed. The rain came down harder now, seeping past the leaves and continuing to drench the pirate. He looked at Peter in bafflement, for he had been forced to live on this island for how ever many decades, and never once known the boy to be without flight. 

"What-" he started, but didnt know what else to say. The ornery lad was as miserable as Hook had ever wanted him to be. And now it felt like black sludge down his throat. He just kept looking down at the boy, feeling the water drip from his nose, eyebrows, chin. He was a mess, inside and out. Seems they had a lot in common at the moment. 

Hook sat in the mud next to the kid, wincing at the mess, but recognizing that it wasnt much different than the rest of the mess on him. "Look, boy… I dont know what happened or… or how to fix it. But we need to get out of the storm." He wiped his hair off of his forehead. "I'll take you to your hideout. You need rest." 

Peter was limp once again as the captain lifted him into his arms, bridal style, and wandered deeper into the trees. He had known the way to the hideout tree when that girl had been here, but that had been many years ago. Or so he presumed. He wasnt sure if time here was different than the mainland. Or if he were just going mad. 

Soon enough, he came to the tree with so many entrance holes and handprints from all the different lost boys who had lived here. He pressed against a nearby knot and gave a shout when it caved in completely and he fell into the mouth of the hollow trunk. He and peter tumbled and slipped down the slide and came crashing against eachother into the living area of their hideout. Hook groaned and tried to get up, winced, then tried again. He was more successful the second time and managed to find a bed nestled into a wall with plenty of fur blankets. He grabbed Peter by the back of his shirt and flung him onto the bed. He was too tired to care properly if the boy was comfortable. 

The man searched every wall and found that only the ceiling had the obvious exits, where he had just fallen from. He was quickly losing energy and willpower to go back out into the raging storm so, with a huff, he found the biggest bed of the lot and curled on it as best he could.

\-------------

The next morning felt like being trampled by horses. Or like he'd fallen down the inside of a tree. 

Hook sat up and used his good hand to wipe the fatigue from his face. He remembered where he was and whom he was with and felt… nothing. He supposes he should feel anger or grief, but at the moment his emotions were dormant inside him, unwilling to surface. He wasnt so sure he  _ wanted _ them right now. Every part of him felt worn down and exhausted. 

He looked over to the sleeping child, his nemesis, the one being who had kept him here like a plaything for what felt like centuries. May have been, even, if he had any clear way to tell. The only thing that seemed to change in this place was the lost boys who- oh! Well. That would explain Peter's foul mood. Some of the boys must have decided they wanted to go back home, back to whatever life they had had before joining his little crew. 

It was the usual cycle and happened sporadically, but never all at once. From the looks of the empty bunks that lined the walls, it would seem this was the first time the had ALL decided to leave. That fairy girl must be flying them all back to the mainland right now, leaving Peter alone on the island for the first time since Hook had ever known him. 

Hook looked to the boy again and startled to see he was sitting up, facing away. "They were lousy at hide and seek." He said coldly. "Good riddance. I don't need them." 

"A child needs a friend." Hook said with more feeling than he truly felt. "And a child needs to be cared for. Can you truly blame them for wanting their mothers and fathers? To grow up and become something?" 

Peter grimaced and faced him. His hair was a mess and he was still covered in dirt. That seemed to be his natural state. "Yes." He snarled through bared teeth. "I can." 

Hook stood slowly from his own bed and circled over to sit on one that was closer to the boy. He took a moment to organize what he wanted to say. He'd never had the chance to tell the boy what he wanted him to hear, for he would always fly away laughing and thinking it to be some game, and this probably wouldn't happen again. "Pan. Those boys came from bad lives. They were lost and alone. That is why they came here. And that's how I believe you came to be here. But they aren't meant to be here forever. They needed you to help them have good memories, happy thoughts, so they could one day go back and grow up." At that term, Peter hardened and looked ready to protest. "You gave them happiness and imagination. And now they are ready to go home." 

"But why?" Peter asked, quickly melting into tears again. "Why is a mother more important than  _ me _ ?  **I ** needed them." He curled his hands into fists and howled. 

Hook suddenly felt angry at the sight. "Now you listen here, boy." He stood and jabbed his finger at him. "You will stop your belly aching right now. You are being incredibly selfish." 

"What?!" Peter asked leaping up as well. He forgot he couldnt fly and tumbled onto the floor, but quickly got to his feet and glared up at the much taller man. He had never had to realize how tall the captain was until now. "I'm not being selfish!" 

"Oh, my mistake." Hook scoffed. "It must have been the  _ crocodile  _ who has kept me on this bloody island against my will for hundreds of years. Who cut. off. my. hand!" He swiped the hook viciously at Peter, causing him to take a step back. "Who stole everything from me that he could! My treasure! My crew!" he continued slashing the air, trying to relieve this sudden wave of fury that had settled inside him. "All in the name of  _ fun.  _ Do you want to know how  _ fun _ it has been for me, boy?" 

Peter turned pale, realizing that he couldnt fly away. That this was his enemy in such an enclosed space with a sharp weapon. He danced away, narrowly avoiding another jab, and put himself on the other side of their large circle table. 

"No, because you dont care what it feels like for others. You only care about how fun it is for  you !" Hook slammed the sharp point into the table, causing Peter to yelp. Hooks attitude quickly went from anger to near panic when he realized that his hook was now firmly lodged into the wood. He pulled hard, twisted, lifted, did everything he could, but it wouldn't come out. 

Peter laughed, mostly in relief, and ran for a secret exit under one of the beds, slipping through the tiny hole and back out into the forest. Hook quickly untied the metal contraption from his arm, letting the hook remain in the table, and scrambled to the exit the boy had just fled through. He needn't bother, though, for it was apparent that he was much too big to fit. 

With all the anger he could muster, Hook threw his head back and screamed


	2. Chapter 2

Hook had explored every nook and cranny in the little home and found it to be bare. No food. No water. No tools or weapons. It was as if no one lived here at all. He sat on the edge of the bed and thought for a good long while. 

After being alone in his new prison for what felt like at least a day, Peter returned, cautiously poking his head around the bend of one of the many upper entrances. He spotted Hook, slumped and defeated, his metal hook still in the table, and dropped down with his bag of fruits. He came and sat in front of the man, within kicking range, and scooted a few fruits his way. Hook made no motion to retrieve them. 

Peter fiddled with a pear and looked supremely guilty. After a few moments, he spoke. "I'm… sorry, Captain Hook. I thought about what you said." He refused to make eye contact and rubbed his hands across the green skin of his pear. Hook didnt know what to say and waited for him to continue. "Its been so long, I don't even remember being here without you. It's like you're a part of Neverland and I never thought of having Tink send you home." He grew teary eyed again. "I dont want to be alone, captain." 

They sat in silence for a while. Neither made a move. 

"Where is my crew?" Hook asked. "And my ship?"

Peter just shrugged. "I dont know." He said truthfully. "I didnt take them." 

Hook thought on this and muttered aloud "they vanished in a flash of light. Gone. The whole ship, everyone on board." He looked up. The bags under his eyes made it appear he hadn't slept since peter last saw him. "All but me."

They sat for a while without speaking. Peter refused to look at him for a while as he thought about their circumstances. Just when the captain began eating his fruit, Peter kept up and exclaimed 

"You're lost!" 

Hook sputtered on his pear before choking it down. "I am not lost, I-"

"Yes! And that makes you a lost boy!" Peter declared. "And I can be a pirate!" 

The captain scowled at the notion. "Listen here, brat. I'm not a boy to-" he stopped, surprised, and couldnt speak for a moment. "Pan. You're hovering."

Peter looked down at his feet, now a few inches off the ground. He let out a hysterical bubble of laughter, then let loose with whoops and exclamations as he twirled midair and circled overhead. He looked down at his nemesis with a bright and childish smile, just for the man. The captain's heart did an odd flip. 

Peter flew back down to grab at the man's coat and give it a good shake. "No more being enemies! Let's be pirate lost boys!" 

And just like that, it was decided, whether Hook liked it or not. Peter had made up his mind and it seemed that it was the only logical next step. It was worth a try, seeing how this went. 


	3. Along the shore

"Yarrrr matey! Walk the plank!" Peter growled as he poked at Hook with a curved stick. "Or it's to the _brig_ with ye." 

He snatched the stick and threw it into the jungle. "You do not speak to ME that way, I am the captain!" He tried to say it menacingly, but Pan couldnt keep the smile off his face. Nor had he stopped hovering since he learned that he could once again fly. Hook huffed and rolled his eyes, continuing his march towards the shore. He saw the boy flying alongside him from the corner of his eye. 

"So, if your whole ship just poofed out of existence, how could anything be left?" He asked, as if the man were being dumb. 

Hook had to reign in his immediate response to keep himself composed. This was a teachable moment, James, he told himself. "What would you do, hmm? Not even have a look for yourself, just to be sure, to see if any little thing may be there?" 

"If I find it first, do I get to keep it?" 

"Depends on what it is, boy." He muttered. It was unnerving to have this whelp floating by his side and not trying to attack him. And to hold a somewhat civil conversation. Not to mention the indignity of how he had gotten lifted and dragged out of that tree by the lad. If Shmee could see him- no. That train of thought needed to be tamped down immediately. 

"What's your name?" Peter asked out of the blue. 

"What?" 

"Well I can't call you Hook without your hook." He said, again in that tone that implied that he was speaking to a simpleton. 

It had been a while, but he could never forget his true name. "James." He replied without much thought. "But you will call me Captain, if you want to be a pirate!"

Peter just laughed airily and twirled in the air. He was the pure essence of carefree childhood. It left a sour taste in his mouth, but he was trying to make this alliance work for as long as he could. "Yes, sir, mr. Captain, sir!"

Hook pushed aside more ferns and wiped away his sweat. He listened as Pan rambled on his plans for their future. "And I'll be the first mate. And when more lost boys come, they can be the crew. And we can play at being enemies again so the boys don't get bored. Oh! And we can make a ship to travel the seas on. And-"

More lost boys. The very idea made James shudder. One child, he was beginning to handle. But four? Eight?! Who knows how many! It wasn't worth worrying about just yet. He'd let himself stay sane before he was forced to madness by youngsters running around, tugging his coat…

"Race you!" Peter called out as they reached the tree line before zipping out of sight towards the water. James followed after at a more sedate pace, feeling unsteady in the sands without his hook to counterbalance him. He managed to slosh through the wet sand and look out upon the waters where his ship used to be. Now it was an empty cove with calm, blue waters. The island held no indication of destruction after the raging storm a few days ago. 

He paced along the perfectly clear sands for a while, Peter occasionally chattering as he flew by, and thought that this truly felt like being lost. For however long he'd been here, his purpose had been to retrieve his chest of gold that the boy had stolen and had evolved into hatred as he was kept from it. But he and his crew had eachother. Making plans, drinking ale from their neverending stockpile that seemed to refill overnight, feeling comradery in the company of other adults. Now…

He looked over to the boy, twirling through the sky without any cares or worries. This was to be his only companion for the foreseeable future. Maybe he really was a lost boy. Maybe he could be happy here, teaching Peter and others how to be a pirate. Learning how to let go of his anger and just...have fun? Perhaps just being the responsible adult of the group would have to do. 

"Hey Hook- I mean Captain! Look!" Peter shoved something in his face so unexpectedly that the man fell back into the sand, sputtering and swiping at him to get some room to breathe. Peter giggled, but backed off a bit enough to show him what had made him so excited. "I figured you wouldn't let me keep it, even though **I** found it first."

James dusted himself off, about to chastise him about personal space, when he saw the bright purple feather and red curved brim of his beloved captains hat. He reached out for it with a look of awe. It was undamaged and looked perfect, as it always had. He placed it atop his head with his good hand and gave Peter a stoic captain pose, back straight and nose in the air. Peter whooped and laughed as he did a backflip, then gave him another big smile. 

"You look like a real captain again, Captain. Let's go see what other lost things we can find." He then led the way as he talked endlessly about his fairy friend and the things she would bring him. James strode after him, listening with half an ear while he enjoyed the feeling of being close to whole again. 


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, the pair went to a cliffside just outside of the Indian border. Peter said that a lot of lost things would end up in a small cave along the steep side. James would have to wait on the edge while Peter went to see what was down there.

It didnt take long before Peter returned, but he looked mighty disappointed. "No fun swords or treasures. Just old books." 

Books? James say upright, very intrigued. "What were they about? How many? Are they water damaged?" He had to get up and see for himself, except he couldn't go over the cliff himself. 

Peter looked untroubled. "I dont know what they're about. It doesnt matter. Let's go see if there's anything fun at the-"

"You must retrieve some for me! I need to see them!" The man's tone was demanding, but frantic. "What if they are about something fun? Wouldn't that be nice? Reading about adventures on a rainy day?" 

Pan kicked his feet up and floated upside down, smiling. "Oh, I can't read." He then proceeded to make a slow arc back over the edge of the cliffside. "But if it means that much to you, I can pull up a few." 

James looked over the edge as far as he could, gleeful to have something to fill his time, other than the boy. When Peter returned he had a stack of six books that he let tumble from his arms and onto the soft grass. They were slightly grizzled to the touch from the salt in the air, but they didnt appear to have any water damage. What was unfortunate, though, is that they were all in a different language. Peter crossed his legs in the air and floated down to sit beside him. "Are they any good?"

Hook dropped the one in his hand with little care. He grumbled "They are in wonderful condition. But I cannot read the language." 

Peter looked at him in surprise. "How many languages are there?" He asked.

James threw his head back and laughed. This ignorant child held his life in his hands? How perilous his existence had been, more so than he had ever been aware of! "Hundreds." He replied casually. "Maybe thousands! They believed there to be yet undiscovered lands when I last saw the mainland." He looked up to the clouds and allowed himself to fall back against the grass. His giggles died down as quickly as they came. "I will never know, I suppose." 

Peter lay in the grass too. "What language are we speaking now?" He pondered softly, also looking up at the clouds. 

James sighed a long breath, then answered "English." This answer meant little to Peter, for he had nothing else to compare it to. They sat and stared for a few more moments before Peter got bored and jumped to his feet, exclaiming that they should go to mermaid cove and see if they had found anything in the ocean. James had never met the mermaids, which was an odd thing to realize after what felt like hundreds of years. He sat up and decided he had nothing better to do than to follow the boy across the island.

* * *


End file.
